IntroductionIncreased blood pressure variability (BPV) is detrimental after acute ischaemic stroke, but the interaction between BPV and neuroimaging factors that directly influence stroke outcome has not been explored.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed inpatients from 2007 to 2014 with acute anterior circulation ischaemic stroke, CT perfusion and angiography at hospital admission, and a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 30–365 days after stroke onset. BPV indices included SD, coefficient of variation and successive variation of the systolic blood pressure between 0 and 120 hours after admission. Ordinal logistic regression models were fitted to mRS with predictor variables of BPV indices. Models were further stratified by CT perfusion volumetric measurements, proximal vessel occlusion and collateral score.Results110 patients met the inclusion criteria. The likelihood of a 1-point rise in the mRS increased with every 10 mm Hg increase in BPV (OR for the 3 BPV indices ranged from 2.27 to 5.54), which was more pronounced in patients with larger ischaemic core volumes (OR 8.37 to 18.0) and larger hypoperfused volumes (OR 6.02 to 15.4). This association also held true for patients with larger mismatch volume, proximal vessel occlusion and good collateral vessels.ConclusionsThese results indicate that increased BPV is associated with worse neurological outcome after stroke, particularly in patients with a large lesion core volume, concurrent viable ischaemic penumbra, proximal vessel occlusion and good collaterals. This subset of patients, who are often not candidates for or fail acute stroke therapies such as intravenous tissue plasminogen activator or endovascular thrombectomy, may benefit from interventions aimed at reducing BPV.

BackgroundEmergency Medicine (EM) is increasingly becoming an international field. The number of fellowships in International EM in the USA is growing along with opportunities to complete international health electives (IHEs) during residency training. The impact on host institutions, however, has not been adequately investigated. The objective of this study is to assess the experience of several South American hospitals hosting foreign EM residents completing IHEs.MethodsAnonymous, semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with physicians working in Emergency Departments in three hospitals in Lima, Peru and one hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. All participants reported previously working with EM foreign rotators. Interviews were analyzed qualitatively and coded for common themes.ResultsThree department chairs, six residents, and 15 attending physicians were interviewed (total = 24). After qualitative analysis of interviews, two broad theme categories emerged: Benefits and Challenges. Most commonly reported benefits were knowledge sharing about emergency medical systems (78%), medical knowledge transfer (58%), and long-term relationship formation (42%). Top challenges included rotator Spanish language proficiency (70%) lack of reciprocity (58%), and level of training and rotation length (25%). Spanish proficiency related directly to how involved rotators became in patient care (e.g., taking a history, participating in rounds) but was not completely prohibitive, as a majority of physicians interviewed felt comfortable speaking in English. Lack of reciprocity refers to the difficulty of sending host physicians abroad as well as failed attempts at building long-lasting relationships with foreign institutions. Lastly, 25% preferred rotators to stay for at least 1 month and rotate in the last year of EM residency. This latter preference increased knowledge transfer from rotator to host.ConclusionsOur research identified benefits and challenges of IHEs in Emergency Medicine from the perspective of physician hosts in several hospitals in South America. Our results suggest that IHEs function best when EM residents rotate later in residency training and when relationships are maintained and deepened among those involved including host physicians, rotators, and institutions. This leads to future rotators, project collaboration, research, and publications which not only benefit individuals involved but also the wider field of Emergency Medicine.

A new oral formulation of iopamidol, "Gastromiro", was evaluated as a bowel contrast agent during abdominal computed tomography (CT). Comparison was made with the well established agents sodium/meglumine diatrizoate ("Urografin 370") and dilute barium sulphate ("E-Z CAT") in a randomized, blind study of 150 consecutive patients undergoing abdominal and/or pelvic CT. Parameters assessed included quality of bowel opacification, artefact generation, contrast-medium palatibility, side effects and cost. No significant difference was found between the three contrast media in stomach- or small-bowel opacification. E-Z CAT was superior at opacifying the caecum/ascending colon. No compelling reason to choose a particular agent was found in the other assessed parameters, but cost is a significant factor.

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Introduction: Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is a validated clinical tool to predict early ischemic changes in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). In addition to scoring of non-contrast brain CT images (CT), head CT angiogram source images (CTA) have also been demonstrated as useful for scoring. We hypothesized that CTA ASPECTS would show superior inter-rater reliability as compared to CT ASPECTS, and that both would perform better in the setting of the favorable target mismatch (TM) profile on CT perfusion imaging (CTP). Methods: We reviewed AIS patients from 2010-2014 with an acute M1 middle cerebral artery occlusion that underwent CT, CTA, and CTP imaging at hospital admission. CT and CTA were independently scored by two experienced physician raters using the standard ASPECTS methodology. Inter-rater agreement was calculated with a weighted kappa. The cohort was then further stratified into either favorable or non-favorable TM profiles using volumetric measurements from the Olea Sphere software and the DEFUSE-3 definition of TM. Results: We included 68 patients. The mean±SD age was 62±18 years. 60% were men. The mean NIH stroke scale was 14.5±7.9. The median (IQR) follow-up modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was 3 (1,6). 37 of 68 (54%) patients had the TM profile and were significantly more likely to have lower follow-up mRS scores (z=3.5, p<0.001). Inter-rater agreement of CTA ASPECTS (kappa=0.82) was superior to CT ASPECTS (kappa=0.76). Patients with the TM profile demonstrated more reliable agreement on both CTA and CT ASPECTS scoring systems (kappa=0.79, 0.78), compared to those without the TM profile (kappa=0.71, 0.75). Discussion: We found that inter-rater agreement was higher for CTA ASPECTS as compared to CT ASPECTS and that both performed better in patents with the TM profile. Clinically this is important because it reaffirms the utility of CTA ASPECTS in this population of patients in which high reliability is paramount, as ASPECTS is often used in medical decision making when determining eligibility for medical and/or endovascular thrombolytic therapies.